not! No matter which vessel fired first! If it were
the Lennehaha, the more honour to her; she ought to
have done it! From platform, pulpit, stump, and
editorial office came one vehement, passionate shout
directed toward Washington.

Congress was in session, and in its halls the fire
roared louder and blazed higher than on mountain or
plain, in city or prairie. No member of the
Government, from President to page, ventured to oppose
the tempestuous demands of the people. The day for
argument upon the exciting question had been a long
weary one, and it had gone by in less than a week
the great shout of the people was answered by a
declaration of war against Great Britain.

When this had been done, those who demanded war
breathed easier, but those who must direct the war
breathed harder.

It was indeed a time for hard breathing, but the
great mass of the people perceived no reason why this
should be. Money there was in vast abundance. In
every State well-drilled men, by thousands, stood ready
for the word to march, and the military experience and
knowledge given by a great war was yet strong upon the
nation.

To the people at large the plan of the war appeared
a very obvious and a very simple one. Canada had given